Powered toothbrush having a decorative facade

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a powered toothbrush containing a decorative facade, which facade may be permanently attached to the brush handle or may be replaceable by the user.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] A. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates generally to toothbrushes, and,more particularly, to an economical powered toothbrush assembly having astandardized handle with a recess for receiving and retainingalternative decorative facades in such a manner that there is a smoothinterface therebetween.

[0003] B. Description of the Related Art

[0004] Various types of non-powered toothbrushes having object-shapedhandles are generally known in the art, and are designed to provideergonomic grips, aesthetically pleasing appearances and/or to appeal tochildren to encourage them to brush their teeth for enhanced oralhealth. Examples of such toothbrushes that appeal to children includeU.S. Design Pat. Nos. 443,765 and 452,381, which disclose toothbrusheswhich incorporate vehicles and U.S. Design Pat. Nos. 434,907, 5,353,464which incorporate animals. Other toothbrush designs containing human, ortoy shapes which appeal to children are disclosed in U.S. Design Pat.Nos. 113,744, 155,668, 175,198, and 209,574.

[0005] Many powered toothbrushes include handles formed by connectingtwo body portions or shells to form a complete housing. Examples of suchpowered toothbrushes may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,115,530,5,341,534, and 6,148,462, 6,202,242. U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,242 discloses alight-emitting, electric toothbrush that includes a handle made from afront body portion and a rear body portion. The front and rear bodyportions are ultrasonically bonded together along an interface line, topermanently seal the two body portions. None of the aforementionedtoothbrushes discloses joining a third shell section, i.e. a decorativefacade, about the exterior of a standardized powered toothbrush handle.

[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,436 discloses a non-powered toothbrush havinga handle that carries a figurine formed separately from but attached tothe handle. The figurine can be attached directly to the handle of thetoothbrush or can be attached first to a carrier, which carrier is thenattached to the handle. The toothbrush handle of U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,436does not disclose use of a decorative facade about the exterior of anotherwise complete toothbrush handle.

[0007] Thus, there is a need in the art to provide powered toothbrusheswhich having a facade for economic, ergonomic and/or aesthetic reasons,especially facades designed to appeal to children to encourage them tobrush their teeth.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The present invention solves the problems of the related art byproviding a powered toothbrush having a standardized handle to providemanufacturing efficiency and economy, to which standardized handlealternate facades may be permanently or removably and replaceablymounted. The decorative facade may have designs that appeal to children,to motivate them to brush their teeth often, and to set in placelifelong habits of good oral hygiene.

[0009] Alternatively, the decorative facade may be used as a locationfor advertising material. The powered toothbrush may then be sold to avariety of manufactures, who in turn, may place their own uniqueidentification or advertising material on the decorative facade. Suchmanufacturers may then offer the powered toothbrushes, with their uniquefacade, as promotional items for their companies and/or their products.

[0010] As embodied and broadly described herein, the present inventionis broadly drawn a powered toothbrush assembly, comprising: a headconnected to a neck, said head having a plurality of bristles extendingoutwardly therefrom; and a handle connected to said neck, said handlehaving a decorative facade mounted thereon. The decorative facade may bepermanently or replaceably mounted within a recessed portion of thehandle so as to smoothly conform to the external shape of said handle,to enhance the consumer acceptance thereof.

[0011] Further scope of applicability of the present invention willbecome apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter.However, it should be understood that the detailed description andspecific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of theinvention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changesand modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from this detaileddescription. It is to be understood that both the foregoing generaldescription and the following detailed description are exemplary andexplanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawingswhich are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitativeof the present invention, and wherein:

[0013]FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a powered toothbrush havinga recess for retaining a decorative facade in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

[0014]FIG. 2 is a right side elevational view of the powered toothbrushshown in FIG. 1;

[0015]FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view of the powered toothbrush shownin FIGS. 1 and 2;

[0016]FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional top plan view of the poweredtoothbrush handle shown in FIGS. 1-3, taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

[0017]FIG. 5 is a right side elevational view of the powered toothbrushshown in FIGS. 1-4, with the decorative facade spaced apart from theremainder thereof; and

[0018]FIG. 6 is a fragmental front elevational view of the poweredtoothbrush handle shown in FIGS. 1-5, with the decorative facaderemoved.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

[0019] The following detailed description of the invention refers to theaccompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawingsidentify the same or similar elements. Also, the following detaileddescription does not limit the invention. Instead, the scope of theinvention is defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

[0020] FIGS. 1-6 illustrate one practice of the present inventionwherein a powered toothbrush 10 includes a neck section 12 interposedbetween a head 14 and a handheld handle 16. Preferably, neck 12 and head14 are integrally connected, and together are detachably connected tohandle 16 so that head 14 may be replaced as the bristles become worn.In an alternate, less costly embodiment of the present invention, thehead 14 and neck 12 are integral and permanently connected to the handle16. Head 14 may contain a movable bristle bearing platform or a tuftblock in a variety of shapes, including but not limited to circular,oval, square, rectangular, various regular or irregular shapes, etc.

[0021] As illustrated, particularly in FIG. 1, head 14 includes a firstmovable tuft block 18, which is illustrated as being at the outermost ordistal portion of head 14. First tuft block 18 is preferably a disk ofcircular ring-type shape, and is movably driven in a rotating oroscillating manner as indicated by arrow 20 in FIG. 1. Other shapes maybe used for first tuft block 18, such as oval or various regular ofirregular shapes. First tuft block 18 may be provided with a multitudeof tufts or bristles 22, arranged, in the illustrated embodiment, in acircular manner. Bristles 22 extend generally away from an outer surface28 of head 14.

[0022] First tuft block 18 may be oscillated by any suitable drivemechanism. For example, the drive mechanism described in U.S. Pat. No.5,625,916, the disclosure of which being incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety except where inconsistent with the expressteachings of the present invention, may be used to oscillate first tuftblock 18.

[0023] A second tuft block 24 may be fixedly attached to head 14 at alocation above neck 12, but below first tuft block 18. Second tuft block24 may include a multitude of tufts or bristles 26 extending away fromouter surface 28 of head 14 a distance equal to or different than thedistance bristles 22 extend outwardly from outer surface 28 of head 14.It is to be understood, however, that second tuft block 24 could belocated distally from, or laterally side-by-side to first tuft block 18.It is preferred, however, that second tuft block 24 be longitudinallyoutside of first tuft block 18 so as to extend the length of the surfacearea of head 14 having bristles.

[0024] The provision of second tuft block 24 in this manner isadvantageous in that powered toothbrush 10 simulates, in appearance ofhead 14, the structure of a manual toothbrush. This makes poweredtoothbrush 10 more acceptable to users of conventional manualtoothbrushes, since the appearance simulates what such a user isaccustomed to seeing. In addition, two tuft blocks 18, 24 even furtherenhances the efficiency of toothbrush 10, both as a result of themovement of tuft blocks 18, 24, and of the ability to readily retaintoothpaste.

[0025] While FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate conventional fiber or filamentform bristles, the term “bristles” as used herein is intended to be usedin a generic sense as cleaning elements or massage elements and couldinclude, for example, elastomeric fingers or walls arranged in acircular cross-section shape or any type of desired shape, includingstraight portions or sinusoidal portions.

[0026] The bristles 22, 26 could be mounted to the tuft blocks orsections by extending through suitable openings in outer surface 28 sothat the base of bristles 22, 26 is mounted within or below the surface28 using conventional staple or in-mold tufting technology for mountingtherein. If desired, the bristles could be embedded in an elastomericmaterial which would permit the bristles to have an independent motion.Such various forms of bristles may thus be used for the bristles used inany section of head 14.

[0027] It is to be understood that the specific illustration of thebristles is merely for exemplary purposes. The invention can, however,be practiced with various combinations of the same or different bristleconfigurations as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,609,890, 5,390,984, and5,533,791, the disclosures of which being incorporated by referenceherein in their entirety, and/or with the same or different bristlematerials, such as nylon bristles, spiral bristles, rubber bristles,etc. Similarly, while FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate the bristles to begenerally perpendicular to surface 28 of head 14, some or all of thebristles may be angled at various angles with respect to the outersurface of the bristle head. It is thereby possible to select thecombination of bristle configurations, bristle materials and bristleorientations to achieve specific intended results, such as to create asmuch movement from the oscillating tuft heads to deliver additional oralhealth benefits like enhanced cleaning, tooth polishing, tooth whiteningand/or massaging of the gums.

[0028] As further shown in FIGS. 1-6, handle 16 preferably includes ahousing 30 and a decorative facade 32, each molded of known plastics,including for example a copolymer such as ABS (acrylonitrile, butadiene,styrene copolymer) or a high impact styrene. The decorative facade 32can be removably or permanently connected to housing 30, by meansdiscussed below. Housing 30 can be pre-formed as a single generallyhollow shell or as two or more separate shell portions which are joinedtogether by welding or other known means. Pre-forming housings orpre-forming complete powered toothbrushes to accept alternativedecorated facades provides for an efficient less costly manufacturingprocess, in that the preformed housings or complete powered toothbrushescan be manufactured in longer manufacturing runs which have less wastageand less set-up labor cost than short manufacturing runs in which adecorative front is altered.

[0029] Housing 30 has an opening provided at an end portion thereoflocated away from neck 12. The hollow nature of housing 30, as best beseen in FIG. 4, enables housing 30 to enclose the drive mechanism (notshown) for oscillating first tuft block 18, as well as, the mechanism(s)providing power to the drive mechanism. The opening of housing 30 may beenclosed by an end cap or base 34. Base 34 enables a power mechanism,batteries for example, to be inserted in or removed and replaced fromhousing 30. Base 34 connects to housing 30 via a variety of connectionmechanisms which may include a force fit male/female type interlock oras illustrated in FIG. 3, a hinged screwed 36 door which allows accessto pry-off the end cap 34.

[0030] Handle 16 is also provided with buttons 38 for controlling thedrive mechanism of the powered toothbrush 10. As best shown in FIGS. 1and 2, buttons 38 extend through openings 33 (see FIG. 5) provided indecorative facade 32. Buttons 38 may control the drive mechanism, andthus the oscillation of first tuft block 18, in a known on-off typemanner. Although two buttons 38 are shown in the Figures, preferably oneto energize the drive mechanism and one to de-energize the drivemechanism, buttons 38 may be replaced with single switch or othercontrol mechanism for the drive mechanism. As best shown in FIG. 4, eachbutton 38 may connect to a switch 40 that controls the energizing of thedrive mechanism.

[0031] Further details of the housing 30 and decorative facade 32 areprovided in FIGS. 4-6. As best shown in FIG. 5, decorative facade 32includes a body portion 42 that is arcuate in shape and conforms to thearcuate shape of housing 30. Body portion 42 includes thinner sections44 at the distal ends thereof. Preferrably the thinner sections 44, asshown, extend substantially along the entire height of body portion 42;however, these sections may only extend a portion of the length thereof.The thinner sections 44 are received in the recessed portion of housing30, as described more fully below.

[0032] Housing 30 preferably includes a recessed portion 46 that isarcuate in shape and conforms to the arcuate shape of decorative facade32. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, buttons 38 extend through openingsprovided in recessed portion 46 of housing 30, and through openings 33provided in decorative facade 32. Recessed portion 46 of housing 30 mayfurther include deeper sections or grooves 48 that receive and retainthinner sections 44 of decorative facade 32. Thus, deeper sections 48may extend substantially along the entire height of recessed portion 46corresponding to the thinner sections 44 extending from decorativefacade 32 to interconnect therewith. The interconnection of thinnersections 44 of decorative facade 32 and deeper sections 48 of housing 30is best shown in FIG. 4. This interconnection enables decorative facade32 to be mechanically, by a force or snap fit, and removably attached tohousing 30.

[0033] Alternatively, decorative facade 32 may be permanently attachedto housing 30 in a variety of ways. For example, decorative facade 32may be ultrasonically or adhesively, using cold or hot adhesives, bondedto recessed portion 46 of housing 30 along an interface line 50, asshown in FIG. 2. Decorative facade 32 may also be connected to recessedportion 46 with a mechanical connector (nuts and bolts, screws, etc.),heat or laser welded, etc.

[0034] The decorative facade 32 may have a three dimensional design,such as the horse illustrated in FIGS. 1-2, or alternately a vehicle, ora soldier, or a fireman, or a policeman or other image that appeals tochildren and that can be used by a child in play as a toy. A poweredtoothbrush 10 having a handle recess 46 with such a toy-shaped,decorative facade 32 provided therein offers a fun and exciting way forchildren to brush their teeth. Such excitement motivates children tobrush their teeth often, to set in place lifelong habits of good oralhygiene.

[0035] Alternatively, the decorative facade 32 may be used as a locationfor advertising material. The powered toothbrush 10 may then be sold toa variety of manufactures, who in turn, may place their own uniqueadvertising material on the decorative facade 32. Such manufacturers maythen offer the powered toothbrushes 10, with their unique facade 32, aspromotional items for their companies and/or their products.

What is claimed is:
 1. A powered toothbrush assembly, comprising: a headconnected to a neck, said head having a plurality of bristles extendingoutwardly therefrom; and a handle connected to said neck, said handlehaving a decorative facade mounted thereon
 2. A powered toothbrushassembly as recited in claim 1, wherein said handle has an externalhousing thereabout and wherein said decorative facade conforms to theshape of said housing and is received and retained in a recessed portionthereof.
 3. A powered toothbrush assembly as recited in claim 2, whereinsaid decorative facade comprises a body portion that is arcuate in shapeand conforms to an arcuate shape of said handle.
 4. A powered toothbrushassembly as recited in claim 3, wherein the body portion includesthinner sections at the distal ends thereof; and wherein said recessedportion of said housing contains grooves which correspond to saidthinner sections to receive and retain said thinner sections.
 5. Apowered toothbrush assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein saiddecorative facade contains a three dimensional design selected from thegroup consisting of a horse, a vehicle, a soldier, a fireman and apoliceman.
 6. A powered toothbrush assembly as recited in claim 1,wherein said decorative facade is permanently connected to said handle.7. A powered toothbrush assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein saiddecorative facade is removably connected to said handle.
 8. A poweredtoothbrush assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein said handle isarcuate in shape and conforms to an arcuate shape of said decorativefacade.
 9. A powered toothbrush assembly as recited in claim 4, whereinthe grooves receive and retain the thinner sections of said decorativefacade, enabling said decorative facade to be mechanically and removablyattached to said handle.